الحج

Aisha's narration of the Farewell الحج is the most comprehensive single account we have of النبي's الحج. She described how she began menstruating upon arrival in Sarif, near مكة, and wept in distress at not being able to perform العمرة. النبي (صلى الله عليه وسلم) comforted her with extraordinary tenderness, saying, 'This is something that Allah has ordained for the daughters of Adam.' He instructed her to perform all الحج rites except الطواف until she was pure, and later sent her with her brother Abdul Rahman to perform العمرة from Tan'im after she had completed her الحج. Her detailed narrations of what النبي said and did at each stage — at عرفة, مزدلفة, منى, during الطواف, and at the stoning — became the foundation upon which scholars built the entire body of الحج jurisprudence.

Asma bint Umays (رضي الله عن her), wife of Abu Bakr at the time of the Farewell الحج, gave birth to her son Muhammad at Dhul Hulayfah, the الميقات for the people of المدينة. This was the very starting point of the الحج journey. She sent word to النبي asking what she should do. He instructed her to perform الغسل (full ablution), bind herself (to manage the postpartum bleeding), and enter الإحرام with the rest of the الحجاج. She was to perform all the الحج rites except الطواف until she became pure from nifas. This remarkable narration أُسس the definitive ruling for women experiencing postpartum bleeding during الحج — a situation that many women throughout تاريخ have faced and found guidance through Asma's precedent.

Umm Salamah (رضي الله عن her) narrated that she complained to النبي of feeling ill during الحج. He told her to perform الطواف from behind the people while riding her mount. She rode around the الكعبة on her camel while النبي prayed near the wall of the الكعبة. This narration أُسس the permissibility of performing الطواف while riding or being carried — a ruling that benefits elderly and disabled الحجاج to this day. Safiyyah bint Huyayy began menstruating after performing الطواف al-ifadah, and النبي confirmed that she could depart مكة without performing الطواف al-wada (farewell الطواف), establishing the ruling that menstruating women are exempted from the farewell الطواف. Each of these narrations from the female companions addressed a real situation faced by real women, and النبي's compassionate, practical responses continue to guide millions of women performing الحج fourteen centuries later.

The female companions at the Farewell الحج were not merely present — they were active participants whose questions, experiences, and narrations shaped Islamic practice. They asked questions when they were uncertain, reported their challenges honestly (including intimate health matters), and transmitted the knowledge they gained with precision and dedication. Their courage in raising gender-specific questions with النبي — questions that other women might have been too shy to ask — provided answers that have benefited countless women across fourteen centuries and every corner of the globe. When you perform الحج or العمرة as a woman, you walk in the footsteps of Aisha, Asma, Umm Salamah, Safiyyah, and dozens of other remarkable women whose faith, courage, and service to knowledge made your الحج possible.